Curriculum policy in Portugal (1995-2007): global agendas and regional and national reconfigurations

This paper undertakes a critical analysis of recent education and curriculum policies in Portugal, focusing on the relationship between globalization, international agencies, and the curriculum. It aims to highlight not only changes in the organization of schools, but also the setting of a agenda structured at a global level for education in which the ability of supranational and transnational institutional forces to cross or go beyond national borders and the configuration of relationships between nations are all implicit. The paper contends that education and curriculum policies should be understood as a product of multiple influences and interdependencies; they are the result of a process of bricolage which reveals the interests, values, principles, and rules that, at any given moment, are dominant or not. Drawing upon this approach, the aim is to show, on the one hand, how the results of the large OECD research projects influence educational and curriculum policy-making in Portugal, and, on the other hand, how these policies are affected by the 'Europeanization' process.